Chapter 84

Chapter 84

Hu Daqiang was momentarily speechless, "I really don't know. Who knows where he went? He must have run far away."

Whether it was Wang San or Hu Daqiang, they both swore that Chef Wang had gone to another place to make a living, but no one knew where.

Lin Taohong found it strange and only asked after Hu Daqiang left, "Sister, why do you care about Chef Wang's affairs? He deserves what he got for leaving!"

Lin Chunyan shook her head, "It's nothing, just asking a few more questions."

A few days later, while at the stall, Lin Chunyan ran into Constable Sun and inquired about Dong Xiaoniang.

"Has she returned?"

"She was sent back the same day. She wasn't seriously hurt, just a bit frightened."

Dong Xiaoniang never expected that Master Li would go to such lengths to find her, which left her quite astonished.

Even though she had only wanted to take advantage of Master Li before, she now felt a bit moved.

Who would have thought that her own parents could sell her without batting an eye, while an old man who lusted after her appearance would go to great lengths to find her?

It was truly ironic.

Master Li, having found Dong Xiaoniang again, treated her even better, going to great lengths to find whatever food she liked.

The maid beside Dong Xiaoniang was very excited, "Wuyao, we've finally seen the end of our hardships. The young masters and misses in the mansion aren't as grand as we are."

Dong Xiaoniang only gave a slight smile. She had heard many stories from Lady Chen and knew that Master Li still found her novel.

This was the least reliable.

She was grateful to Master Li but also clearly understood why he was good to her.

She also knew that the young master and miss in the mansion were likely behind this incident.

She had the maid bring the contraceptive potion and drank it all at once.

The maid looked around, "Wuyao, I think we shouldn't drink it. With how much Master Li loves us, he would be happy even if we had a child."

Dong Xiaoniang tugged at the corner of her mouth, "I'll suffer alone here. When Master Li dies, I'll have some money to fall back on and can leave. If I have a child, will I let him suffer in this mansion?"

The contraceptive potion was very bitter, so Dong Xiaoniang put a piece of saqima in her mouth to make the taste milder.

Lin Chunyan quickly made noodles, took a deep breath, and asked Constable Sun, "As long as she's safe, that's good. Was the kidnapper Wang Dalang?"

Constable Sun, who knew some of the details, nodded with a smile, "It's thanks to his boasting that he didn't leave the city in time and was caught red-handed."

When they went to arrest Wang Dalang, there was naturally a commotion. Wang Chuizi and Lady He wouldn't let the constables take their proud eldest son, crying and wailing for a long time.

Constable Sun had no good feelings toward them. Wang Dalang's crime was clear, and he didn't hold back when taking action.

"They're already looking for Wang Erlang and Wang Sanlang; they will surely catch them."

"No wonder he had money to go to Clear Breeze Building to drink tea and listen to music. It turns out it was all from kidnapping and selling people. He deserves to be beaten to death," Mrs. Zhang spat on the ground.

"It's strange, Wang Dalang always goes to Clear Breeze Building to drink tea and listen to music. It seems the people he kidnaps are all from around here."

Constable Sun raised an eyebrow. They hadn't heard of anyone being kidnapped in their area recently, and he knew every village nearby well.

After Wang Dalang was arrested, he claimed that kidnapping Dong Xiaoniang was his first time doing it because he was short on money, and he had never dared to do it before.

But if what he said was true, where did Wang Dalang get his money from?

While eating noodles, Constable Sun pondered this. He heard Lin Chunyan talking to Mrs. Zhang, "Thank goodness he was caught. That day, Wang Dalang was drunk and shouting, saying he would even dare to kill. It scared me to death."

Mrs. Zhang snorted, "I didn't see any of you three scared. At night, you all slept soundly."

Poor her, she had been on edge all night, and the next day, her head was dizzy.

Lin Chunyan ignored Mrs. Zhang's comment and continued, "Mr. Huang asked me to make snowflake pastries. I think adding some ginkgo nuts and pine nuts would make them taste better."

She added, "I didn't expect that after leaving Chef Wang, Sanlang could become a waiter at Clear Breeze Building. Mr. Huang is a good person, willing to give him a meal."

Constable Sun's heart stirred. Hearing about the snowflake pastries made him hungry, and he immediately thought that Chef Wang had indeed been missing for some time. Although it was said he had gone to another place to work as a chef, like Lin Chunyan, he found it a bit strange.

He hurriedly finished his noodles and rushed to the yamen, saying that he would come back to try the snowflake pastries when they were ready.

Seeing him leave, Lin Chunyan sighed in relief, washed fresh green leafy vegetables, and set them aside.

She didn't know if her guess was correct, but if it was just an attempted kidnapping, Wang Dalang might not be punished severely.

If there was even a slight possibility that Wang Dalang had killed someone, it would be a capital offense.

Lin Taohong's eyes darted around as she prepared the pan-fried tofu, sprinkled wild scallions on top, and only put it in a bowl after smelling its rich aroma.

"Add some cilantro. The pan-fried tofu only smells good with cilantro and scallions."

They didn't grow much cilantro, and many plants didn't survive, which made Mrs. Zhang very upset.

These cilantros were bought from vendors in town.

When the sugar water lady saw them buying, she brought all her home-grown cilantro and refused to take money.

Lin Chunyan naturally didn't take advantage of this and placed copper coins on her stall.

Lin Cuixiang came back and said that the sugar water lady was particularly unhappy, feeling that they were being too formal.

Having spent the money, Lin Taohong valued these cilantros greatly, using only a small bunch each time. If anyone asked for more, she would reluctantly give more.

"Should we buy some more coriander?"

Mrs. Zhang washed the bowl, "We've planted some at home; it will be ready in a while. Don't give me that look."

Mrs. Zhang believed that the coriander in the field must have been trampled by their donkey; otherwise, why wouldn't it grow properly?

Lin Taohong ignored her and came over to ask Lin Chunyan, "Sister, do you think Wang Dalang killed that cook?"

Lin Chunyan shook her head, "I was just guessing."

When she got home, seeing everyone's gloomy faces, she learned that Wang Chuizi had come to the house while Lin Chunyan was selling goods at the dock, saying he wanted to teach Wang Yingniang a lesson.

He blamed Wang Dalang's arrest on Wang Yingniang, thinking that if she hadn't gone to the county town, Wang Dalang wouldn't have missed the chance to leave the city out of brotherly affection.

Wang Chuizi was somewhat afraid of Lin Chunyan, so he thought that with Lin Chunyan not at home and only Wang Yingniang there, he could beat her up without anyone knowing.

Aunt He had gone out to gather information, believing she had all the details, but never expected so many people to be at Lin Chunyan's house.

Seeing him come, Aunt Lin shouted, calling over a dozen strong men who were building a house next door.

Wang Chuizi: ...

He immediately ran away but was caught by Uncle Lin and several others who held him down and beat him.

Wang Chuizi begged for mercy, "I didn't come to cause trouble for the Lin family; I came to find my daughter..."

"Pah! What daughter? You sold your daughter long ago! Now she is one of us in the Lin family. If you show up around our village again, we'll beat you every time!"

The strong men hit hard, leaving Wang Chuizi bruised all over. He limped back home and beat Aunt He.

"I told you to find out, but you only said Wang Yingniang was at home. Why didn't you say they had so many people there?"

Aunt He dodged as she spoke, "How could there be so many people? Their house is in a remote part of the village, isn't it?"

Wang Chuizi spat on the ground, "Who knows what happened? I saw two families building new houses there; how could it still be remote?"

Frustrated by his failed attempt, Wang Chuizi felt everything had gone wrong since he started selling goods in town.

"When should we go to that Old Lady Dong to resolve this?"

Seeing he wasn't hitting anyone, Aunt He quickly responded, "We still have some money at home, but not much. How much should we give to Old Lady Dong?"

Wang Chuizi frowned, "Why isn't there more? We found ten taels of silver!"

Ten taels of silver sounded like a lot, but it didn't last long. Wang Dalang often took money from here, which was why he had to kidnap the concubine of Mr. Li.

He then cursed Wang Yingniang, "Look how much Mr. Li loves that young lady. If Wang Yingniang had married him, we wouldn't be worrying about those few taels of silver now!"

Wang Dalang wouldn't have had to take such risks and would still be free instead of being imprisoned, suffering who knows what.

Thinking of this, Aunt He couldn't help but cry.

"It's good that Erlang and Sanlang are away. Only Dalang is pitiful. We should spend more money to get him out."

Lin Chunyan ground the hickory nuts and comforted the dazed Wang Yingniang, "Don't think too much. It was right to beat him. If he came to find you now, it wouldn't be for anything good."

Wang Yingniang nodded, feeling a bit uncomfortable. She thought these people had nothing to do with her, yet something still bothered her.

Who would have thought that Wang Chuizi came to see her, not to reconnect as father and daughter, but for Wang Dalang again.

Though her heart was already dead, she was still struck once more.

Mrs. Zhang noticed and was a bit angry, "You clever girl, why are you so upset?"

Raising her voice, Wang Yingniang stood up hurriedly to explain, "Mother, I'm not saying Aunt Lin did anything wrong; I just feel a bit uncomfortable."

Lin Chunyan pulled Wang Yingniang, "My mother says this because she cares about you. She can't say nice things when she's worried, but you've been here long enough to know she's trying to protect you from feeling bad."

Mrs. Zhang, caught, felt a bit embarrassed, "What do you mean I can't say nice things? I'm really angry."

She didn't stay long, telling Lin Chunyan to comfort Wang Yingniang and rushed off to find Liu Niangzi.

Liu Niangzi's house was being built slower than Aunt Lin's. Many people had already finished their work and chose to help Aunt Lin.

Liu Niangzi sighed, "These people are too fickle, just because your family has more people and they're close to you."

Mrs. Zhang looked around and, seeing that Old Man Peng wasn't there, pouted, "He doesn't even care about building the house?"

Liu Niangzi snorted, "This house has nothing to do with him, so he naturally doesn't care."

But she didn't mind, "The other day, we found out he had been sleeping in the east room and hadn't eaten for days."

Peng Pingan couldn't bear it and brought him a bowl of rice. Wei Rou and Liu Niangzi complained, "I don't believe he can't get up and cook. There's rice and flour in the kitchen."

Everyone knew that Old Man Peng was just lazy.

Everything was handled by Peng Pingan.

Liu Niangzi didn't want to bother Ding Hui Niang, but Old Man Peng went to their house and caused a commotion.

If it weren't for the help of other villagers, Old Man Peng might have taken back their copper coins.

After this incident, everyone knew what kind of person Old Man Peng was and avoided him.

Even though Ding Hui Niang engaged in that kind of business to survive, many women in the village felt uneasy but didn't go to her house to cause trouble.

Aunt Lin also came over to chat, and Liu Niangzi quickly grabbed her hand and asked, "Was the person you talked to today your niece from your hometown?"

Aunt Lin nodded, her eyes gleaming with satisfaction, "Isn't she a beauty?"

Liu Niangzi nodded, and Sister Wei Rou, who had just poured a basket of sand, came over to drink water and chat.

"I see she's quite the talker. Have you set her up for Erlang?"

Aunt Lin shook her head, speaking through gritted teeth, "I wish I could, but my son Erlang is so stubborn; he won't budge."

Mrs. Zhang, who went to the market every day, had only met Sister Shuang once and didn't know what she was like.

Liu Niangzi pouted, "She'll be back soon to bring lunch. Just wait and see."

Aunt Lin felt something off in Liu Niangzi's tone and huffed, "Now that you've got yourself a good daughter-in-law, you don't want others to have one too? Look at how jealous you are."

They were neighbors from long ago, so they spoke freely without holding back.

Liu Niangzi mumbled a few words, while Mrs. Zhang eagerly awaited Sister Shuang's arrival. When she came, Aunt Lin quickly stood up and pulled Sister Shuang into the house.

"Your hands are so cold, you should warm them up soon. I told you not to come, yet you still make the trip."

"Auntie, I'm not cold. It's your birthday, and I wanted to help. I can't do much, but I made you a waist warmer and two pairs of shoes. After lunch, you must try them on."

Seeing the items Sister Shuang brought, Aunt Lin couldn't stop smiling, and Mrs. Zhang marveled at it all when she returned home.

"Such a clever tongue, and she's so dignified and graceful. What's Erlang fussing about!"

The pine nuts, melon seeds, and peanuts were already crushed and mixed with the sheep's milk, which Lin Chunyan carefully added to the snowflake candy, stirring bit by bit.

"Did you go see the little lambs again?"

Mrs. Zhang poked her head in and asked. Lin Chunyan nodded, "In a few days, we can bring the ewe home."

Only one family in their village owned a sheep, and Lin Chunyan had previously arranged to get the ewe that would give birth.

She had paid for it long ago, but the lamb was too young to survive the harsh winter without its mother, so the ewe stayed with them for a while longer.

Sometimes, when there was extra milk, they would send some over.

Hearing Mrs. Zhang, Lin Chunyan glanced at the neighboring yard, where the walls were already half-built. In another ten to fifteen days, the house would be complete. She could hear the sound of jade plates, but no one was in sight.

After talking with Aunt Lin, Sister Shuang turned and knocked on their door.

She approached with a bright smile, the kind that adults adored, looking very endearing.

Lin Cuixiang ran over and called out, "Sister."

"Sister Xiang, you just keep busy. I just came to chat with everyone."

She carried a basket with needlework, making a forehead band. Zhao Linglan, who was skilled, saw it and moved closer to look.

Even though she worked during the day at Lin Chunyan's place, she could still make several pairs of shoes at home, managing everything.

Seeing Sister Shuang's skills surpass hers, she couldn't help but examine the work closely.

"Your mind is truly ingenious. How did you think of this?"

Sister Shuang's eyes crinkled into a smile, "I just fiddled around at home with nothing to do. I'm not as skilled as you. I could smell the fragrance from the neighboring yard."

Lin Chunyan brought out the freshly made snowflake candy for them to taste and also took out the sesame candy. Now that she made more sesame candy, everyone had eaten plenty, but they only reached for the snowflake candy.

Sister Shuang had seen the sesame candy before, knowing that in Clear Breeze Building, a small piece cost several coins and wasn't always available. She never expected it to be casually placed on the table, with no one willing to take it.

Her mother was right; Brother Erlang, now selling goods with Lin Chunyan and the others, indeed had a lot of money.

She ate quietly, pondering in her heart.

Before coming, Sister Shuang hadn't expected Brother Erlang to be so stubborn, still harboring resentment over the rejected marriage proposal.

It left her unsure of what to do.

The longer it dragged on, the greater the risk of others finding out. This thought made Sister Shuang feel a sense of urgency.

Flattering Aunt Lin alone seemed ineffective. Sister Shuang's eyes darted, pointing at the sesame candy, "Sister Yan, your skills are truly remarkable. I've only heard of sesame candy but never tasted it."

Lin Chunyan encouraged her to eat more. Sister Shuang blushed, hesitantly saying, "Could I perhaps send some to Brother Erlang? He hasn't eaten since returning from the market."

This display of bashful affection left everyone in the courtyard speechless. Lin Chunyan recovered first, "Of course, Sister Shuang, take the whole plate over."

Sister Shuang smiled softly, curtsied, and walked to the neighboring yard.

Once she was out of sight, Lin Taohong teased Lin Cuixiang, "Your cousin seems quite fond of Brother Erlang. I think things are about to get interesting."

Lin Cuixiang wasn't so optimistic, "My brother's temper... sigh."

A few days later, news spread in town that Wang Chuizi's body had been found in a mountain ravine.

Wang San was called to identify the body, but due to the time elapsed, the face was unrecognizable. They identified him by his usual clothing.

Wang San thought Wang Chuizi had fled long ago and felt their master-disciple bond was severed because he had left first. He never imagined Wang Chuizi would be murdered.

Despite Wang Chuizi's frequent beatings, they had been together for many years, and Wang San cried bitterly.

Many people in town came to see the commotion, seeing Aunt He and Wang Chuizi taken away, accused of participating in the murder, shocking many.

"Who would have thought they'd treat their own daughter so badly, let alone commit such a heinous crime?"

"There's no good apple in that bunch. The eldest even trafficked young girls. Truly, a bad tree bears no good fruit."

After hearing Lin Chunyan's account, Officer Sun interrogated Wang Dalang, who was already in custody for trafficking. Master Li threatened to tear him apart, and Wang Dalang was terrified.

It was just that the young lady looked well-mannered and dressed decently, so Wang Dalang assumed she must be from a respectable family, and even if she were lost, they wouldn’t dare to make a big fuss about it.

These officials' families valued their reputation above all else. Even if they couldn’t find the young lady, they would never let outsiders know.

Reporting to the authorities was out of the question.

Wang Dalang didn't know this information at first. It was only after winning some money from Chef Wang and going to the casino that he met an old man who told him.

Wang Dalang didn’t know the old man’s name; he seemed quite ordinary at first glance, except for his shifty eyes. He claimed to have worked in wealthy households before, and had more experience than most.

The old man was extremely generous, and Wang Dalang envied him greatly. At that moment, he thought, if this old man could become a kidnapper and earn so much silver, why couldn’t he?

By the time the ten taels of silver he got from Chef Wang were almost spent, Wang Dalang saw Lin Chunyan and Wang Yingniang at Clear Breeze Building and decided to go through with the plan.

In front of Constable Sun, Wang Dalang wept bitterly, "I was just blinded by greed. The young lady wasn’t hurt at all, and I’ve never done anything like this before."

Constable Sun snorted, "Don’t try to fool me. Do you really think you can easily get out of this prison?"

Seeing Wang Dalang staring at him with wide eyes, Constable Sun added, "We’ve already found Chef Wang’s body. Your father has confessed, saying it was all your idea. You won’t escape the death penalty."

Wang Dalang panicked and knelt before Constable Sun, "My father is lying! He killed Chef Wang himself, and we only helped carry the body to the ravine. What does that have to do with us?"

Constable Sun narrowed his eyes, "You two are contradicting each other. From what I see, your father seems to be telling the truth. You’d better not lie!"

Seeing that Constable Sun didn’t believe him, Wang Dalang became even more anxious, "I’m not lying. My father used the axe from our house to kill Chef Wang in the west wing of his home. If you don’t believe me, search the place; you won’t be wrong!"

After Constable Sun left, Constable Wu gave him a thumbs up, "You’re amazing, Brother Sun. How did you figure that out?"

Constable Sun felt a bit proud but didn’t show it. He led the men to Chef Wang’s house.

When Lin Chunyan heard about this, she was deeply troubled. When Constable Sun came to eat again, she eagerly asked him.

"Is Chef Wang really dead?"

Constable Sun had been busy with this case and hadn’t had time to come to the stall. He was already craving the food, so he asked Lin Chunyan to bring him a large bowl of noodles and started talking while eating.

As the weather grew warmer, wild vegetables began to sprout on the mountains. When Lin Chunyan wasn’t selling at her stall, she often went up the mountain with a basket.

She picked a large bunch of wild onions, which she would cook with eggs when she got home, savoring the taste of spring with every bite.

There were also many fiddleheads, especially on the hill to the west of the village, where several young ladies picked several baskets full.

If they couldn’t finish them, they could pickle them.

Last winter, there were hardly any fresh vegetables, and they relied on pickled vegetables from the fall to get through.

The laborers at the dock loved buying these pickled vegetables.

After washing the fiddleheads, they needed to be blanched, then cut into small pieces, mixed with Sichuan pepper, cloves, and white wine, and stored in jars.

Some were stir-fried with lard, and anyone who ate them found them incredibly fragrant.

Constable Sun finished his noodles with the fiddleheads and said, "Chef Wang has been dead for about half a year. After the incident, Wang Chuizi and Chef Wang had a falling out. Wang Chuizi pretended that Chef Wang had gone away and stole all the silver from his house."

Lin Chunyan sighed, realizing that after the murder and theft, Wang Dalang’s courage had grown.

When she told everyone, Wang Yingniang was shocked, "Murder? My father actually killed Chef Wang?"

Although Chef Wang was somewhat arrogant and vengeful, it didn’t warrant his death.

This news was even more shocking than hearing that Wang Dalang was a kidnapper.

Seeing Wang Yingniang’s distress, Mrs. Zhang couldn’t bear it. Recalling what Lin Chunyan had said earlier, she softened her tone, "Daughter, given how they are, you should be happy to be free from them. Don’t grieve anymore."

She pulled Wang Yingniang up, "You have no connection with them now; you’re part of our family! If not, they might have implicated you too."

Thinking of Wang Chuizi and Wang Dalang’s faces, she realized it was a real possibility.

Lin Chunyan secretly gave Mrs. Zhang a thumbs up, making her feel proud. She continued to comfort Wang Yingniang.

Saying kind words wasn’t so difficult.

Wang Yingniang sobbed for a while but eventually regained her composure, "I understand your good intentions, but hearing it suddenly made me feel terrible."

Zhao Linglan and her sister exchanged glances and came over to support Wang Yingniang, "Even strangers would feel bad hearing this."

Mrs. Zhang led Wang Yingniang inside to wash her face, "If the case is confirmed and you’re worried, you can go see him off."

With both murder and kidnapping, the punishment would likely be execution.

Hearing this from under the window, Lin Taohong snorted and whispered, "If they had been caught when selling their daughter, perhaps none of this would have happened."

Lin Chunyan was surprised, "I never expected to hear such words from you."

Neither Mrs. Zhang nor Lin Taohong seemed as frivolous as they used to be.

Thinking back to when Lin Taohong insisted on becoming someone’s concubine, it felt like a different world.

Lin Taohong blushed, "Why can’t I say such things? The Wang Chuizi family deserves to die. Don’t the families of Lihua and Xinghua deserve the same fate?"

Lihua, who had just come in, heard this and felt a bit awkward, hesitating at the door.

After the warmth of early spring, Lihua often came to the courtyard to chat, and her health had improved significantly. Not wanting to be a burden to her family, she wanted to find work.

Lin Taohong stuck out her tongue and ran over to Lihua, "Lihua sister, don’t take it to heart. I was just talking nonsense."

Lin Taohong was always a bit restrained around Lihua. Lin Chunyan smiled at them and took out the soaked willow branches, continuing her work.

The baskets and round sieves at home were used frequently. With the weather getting hotter, there would be more things to dry, so she had to weave more.

The most skilled craftsman was Uncle Lin, whose baskets and sieves were not only the right size but also very uniform.

However, he was helping the second family build their house, so Lin Chunyan decided to do it herself.

Apart from the slightly more complicated base, which required several osier rods to work together, the rest of the weaving became simpler as she progressed.

Lin Chunyan even felt a sense of pleasure from the weaving process.

She placed the finished basket aside and compared it with the one Zhao Linglan had made; there was a significant difference, and everyone stifled their laughter. "It’s not like she can do everything; at least this balances things out a bit."

Wang Yingniang had stopped crying, washed her face, and came out, resuming her usual demeanor.

No one mentioned the incident again.

Since returning from the county town on the Lantern Festival, Zhou Wanniang had been listless, no longer as happy about going back to the capital city.

Jiming was worried sick, pacing around anxiously.

"Miss, think about the Second Young Master from the Marquis’s mansion. Didn’t he already write to us, saying that the situation has calmed down and we just need to return to finalize the engagement?"

In the past, hearing such words would have made Zhou Wanniang laugh, but today was different. She only managed a forced smile.

Jiming leaned in and whispered, "Did the Old Lady say something?"

That day, upon returning, Old Lady Wang had called Zhou Wanniang over, dismissed everyone else, and spoke privately with her granddaughter. No one knew what was said.

Zhou Wanniang shook her head. "Grandmother didn’t say anything."

It was precisely because nothing was said that Zhou Wanniang grew suspicious. The Old Lady, who had seen countless storms, suddenly agreed to let her return to the capital city. Why the sudden change of heart?

They had originally planned to leave when spring arrived and the weather warmed up, so the journey wouldn’t be cold.

But now, the sudden agreement to leave seemed like a push to get her out.

Zhou Wanniang, always perceptive, carefully recalled what happened on the Lantern Festival and noticed the differences.

Was the lady who mistook her for Xinghua really just mistaken?

When Old Lady Wang heard this, she was visibly shocked and even showed signs of panic.